Does dancing blindfolded feel different to dancing with your eyes closed?
Me and Taz do this a lot.. surprising how well it actually works. No handed drops are funOriginally Posted by MOD
Haven't tried it with someone who i'm not familiar with their moves yet though.
Xxx
Does dancing blindfolded feel different to dancing with your eyes closed?
I've led with my eyes closed for about the last a third of a track. Like Gadget I sometimes use it to get a better connection.Originally Posted by Jon
Interesting. I can definetely feel the differences in the style the lady's using to follow much more clearly when my eyes are closed.Originally Posted by Jayne
Looks pretty cool too I was taught to imagine a glowing thread of energy connecting the two of us. Strange thing is after about a minute, you can actually see it - no idea why.Originally Posted by wayaay bird
Yes.Originally Posted by MartinHarper
With a blindfold there's a slight pressure on your face
With your eyes closed, you actually see light (kinda orange-grey) - with a blindfold on you see black
With your eyes closed you know you can open your eyes at any time, with a blindfold you can't
And a blindfold can mess-up a hairstyle that's taken a lady hours to perfect
Be well,
Christopher
I've tried this too! Although I can't be trusted and will just end up taking a sneaky peep as to where I am going. Would love to try jiving blindfolded though. (see why I added the word 'jiving' rather than 'it'? Yes I know how some people think! )I've led with my eyes closed for about the last a third of a track. Like Gadget I sometimes use it to get a better connection.
Mind you, ever jived when completely bladdered? I did it once, and never again! It was at somebodys birthday party, and me and my mate shared loads of white wine and she (fab lead!) wanted a dance with me. Anyway, thinking it was funny, she done a lot of spinning moves and at that point, it was like dancing blindfolded.. I couldn't see a bloody thing!!! Of course, I fell on my ar$e after and looking back, it still makes me laugh!
It certainly does help the leader and the follower. I think it would get to a point where it is impossible going from a double handed move, to a single, then a double again.. well, you wouldn't really see that hand being offered to you would you? Imagine, you'd both have to stand on the spot for a few beats until you managed to make a grab for it!!!Interesting. I can definetely feel the differences in the style the lady's using to follow much more clearly when my eyes are closed.
Try thisOriginally Posted by Donna
Be Well,
Christopher
I've tried this a few times recently (first time (and several others) at Bliss, and then again at a local venue last week) - eyes closed as opposed to blindfolded. Fantastic fun, except that a couple of times, the evil b******s I've been doing it with have been swapping mid dance! First time it happened was probably quite embarrassing for one and quite a compliment for the other, as I started off dancing with a teacher and ended up with someone who's been dancing less than a year, and couldn't tell the difference until the very last move - a drop (think it's called a Nosedive?) which I'd done in one of the workshops with the second guy, but which the teacher wouldn't have known that I knew. The second time (not with the same partners) I kind of had a feeling it wasn't the same person all through (they swapped back before the end so when I opened my eyes I was still with partner #1), but couldn't tell exactly when they swapped, and I couldn't tell who the other one had been, and had to be told. It's a very interesting experience though, and I definitely want to do it more. Not sure I could do it as a lead, but would like to try, and have danced as a follower with the lead's eyes closed.
As I'm so bad at telling who's who and when it's happened I've sort of been challenged to do an eyes-closed dance where I know my partner is going to be swapped several times and to see if I can tell when and who ... I'm sure it'll be much easier to tell if I know it's going to happen!
Ah, so I won't take it personally when you close your eyes anymore then :p
I remember once, not long after starting Ceroc (the first time) dancing with my eyes closed. I remember being quite uncomfortable, but otherwise it went ok. It was with a very experienced lead though, so one of us knew what we were doing
I've never actually danced blindfolded, or much danced ceroc with my eyes closed, but I did have an Excellent salsa dance with closed eyes a few years ago.
The guy I was dancing with claimed he had his eyes closed too - a fact I am unable to verify! It was an amazing dance, all the more so if he was telling the truth! You can feel the connection far better, although it takes me a while to relax into it.
The chemistry was pretty amazing too, although that might Not have been related to eyes being closed!
I've been known to dance with my eyes shut on occasion. Against the glare of the light of course (thanks for that Gadget!).
Or even with a blindfold on at the recent Scottish comp!
It is very interesting dancing with a lady with her eyes closed, you have to think a lot more about where you are putting your hands to make sure you get the correct hand or both hands. I have danced/played with Frankie with her eyes closed a fair amount and i feel it has improved my dancing.
I don't mind admitting to being partner #1. The hardest part of this is finding the right time to swap.The second time (not with the same partners) I kind of had a feeling it wasn't the same person all through (they swapped back before the end so when I opened my eyes I was still with partner #1), but couldn't tell exactly when they swapped, and I couldn't tell who the other one had been, and had to be told.
I have also lead her with my eyes closed a couple of times (at camber in the blues room and once locally) and this was a very strange experience. Not knowing where other people were or where your partner was after spinning them. But the second time i paid a lot of attention to my position on the dance floor and was very surprised that when i opened my eyes that i was still almost in the same spot as when we had started.
Gent
In one of the workshops I did at Rebel Yell on the weekend, we were dancing with no contact for a while as an exercise. I've done it before for MJ, but this was wcs Much harder than you might think, but it really forces you to concentrate on the body lead.
I also close my eyes occasionally while dancing if I'm concentrating on just following, or am having trouble working out exactly what's being lead. Just make sure you trust the lead's spatial awareness and floorcraft
I did a class in Sydney once where they were teaching a sequence of moves a few of us had already learnt for a team routine. Someone said "oh, you two would know this with your eyes shut"- so we both shut our eyes and tried That was fun (and surprisingly successful)
Last edited by Alice; 18th-October-2006 at 10:07 AM. Reason: not telling;P
I had a realy bad night dancing this evening, was struggling to lead, could only remember beginers moves and the odd inter move, plus i could not focus at all on the music. I put this down to Taxiing last night and helping out in the beginers this evening plus having a real bad week at work. So after what i felt was a realy bad lead for a whole track i decided to close my eyes for the next and danced a track through with Frankie, it seemed to focus my mind much more and i relaxed and started to enjoy myself again.
To Frankie_4711 for putting up with me this evening.
Gent
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